Vally Nomidou creates life-size figurative sculptures out of paper that may be haunting at first glance, and yet become gorgeous throughout the contemplation of her process and content. Nomidou is an artist from Athens, Greece and a Graduate of the Athens School of Fine Arts, and of the Saint Martin’s School of Art of London. The body of work I have researched centers on Nomidou’s exhibition “Let it Bleed” which occurred in 2010 at the Fizz Gallery in Athens, Greece as a part of Art Athina, a yearly international art fair hosted in Athens. In this exhibition Nomidou presented seven sculptures of female figures including adult women and young girls. The sculptures offer an immediate sense of recognition given by their extremely life-like presence, attention to detail, and naturalistic gestures. To start her process Nomidou plaster casts body parts from her sitters and goes through an extensive method of documentation taking several photographs of her models. After this Nomidou sorts through her collection of substrates including printed materials, newspapers, paper towels, handmade paper, and cardboard while consciously deciding on a color palatte attributed to the natural materials. She starts with an internal framework made of cardboard as an armature and works from the inside out. After this, the artists attaches the plaster cast pieces and then builds layers of the paper material using wood glue, acrylic medium, and often sewing and stitching which then reflect a surface reminiscent of skin. Further some of the surface is rubbed, sanded, and polished to evoke sensuality and play with the viewer’s visual perception activating their sense of touch. Many of the sculptures make great use of negative space as they are exposed in areas where the figure is incomplete possibly creating a sense of emptiness, but also giving the figures a light quality. This openness is a direct invitation for the viewer to contemplate the relationship between exterior and interior surfaces.

The message I believe Nomidou suggests is that her material is used to venerate that which is vulnerable, available, and temporary. Because she chooses not to use anything else she fully exposes the viewer to her process and materials leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Although there is a grand sense of naturalistic illusion the transparent content of the piece is best reflected by the translucent layers of paper built up on the surface. It’s a strange mixture that prompts the viewer to struggle between the thought of witnessing something pleasant or possibly vile. Her methods may also suggest feelings of loss and possibly suffering as Nomidou is very fond of the haphazard assembly of the works in reference to the stitching and sewing which is indicative of wounds, and scars, and effects on the body. After all one of the main themes in her work is fragility as the artist states: “…I work out my figures spontaneously with the intention to show the mental state of ‘’between’. Between different trends, orientations, routes, decisions. The situation to be between and to do connections, fragile connections with a variety of possibilities, with uncertainty. Without a final decision. With tyranny. The difficulty, the sensitivity, the contrary emotions that coexist, the agony, the empathy, the cowardice, the fear. The game and the pleasure to express all these situations sometimes gently and sometimes hard...All these are a fragile world written on the female body which I build… People I know, anonymous people, simple people, children, (my son, a refugee girl, a lonely girl with a famous family) an abnormal dancer…All of them have something vulnerable. They are personalities under formation, defenseless against their fate.”

The first thing that I thought when I saw this work was "haunting" and when it was stated in the text all I could think was "yup" but as it continues on I did really feel much as described that there is this strong empathetic responds that leaves yes a fragility but also something comforting in that. It is a balance not often achieved where peace and a violence can sit together in the same piece. Beautiful work.

Jonathan

4/18/2017 09:50:59 am

Once again i'm amazed at how the paper can be sculpted other than paper mache. Such detailed work, while using all elements of paper